Christmas 2011

Christmas this year rocked my socks off! I had all these dreams that Bean would come downstairs in his cute jammies and just be so excited at all the new things to look at! Granted, our magical morning began a tad early. 6am….which wouldn’t have been too terrible if Santa went to bed before 2am. Either way, it was awesome. Bean was at an awesome age for his first Christmas. (Tempts me to have all January children!)

Hubsy found his gift from Santa right away. Too big to wrap. Hubs does Krav Maga. If you don’t know what it is google it. It’s nuts. But he loves it and I want to be a wife that fuels passions rather than drive him away…no matter how many times he comes home from class and says “let’s practice chokes.” Yeh…..he likes being fake choked so he can inform (dramatically show) me how to escape. That boy always keeps life interesting 🙂

Bean found his first treasure from Santa. It’s called a pewi bike. Basically it’s a walker that you don’t sit them in. Traditional walkers are terrible for their spines, not to mention they stifle their ability to learn how gravity works and to fall correctly. Plus later on they can ride it around. This was a big hit. Walking was the big deal those couple of months and so he played with this for like a half hour.

He was interested in just looking at his ball pit from Santa. He was not interested in going in.

Someone else, however, would not come out of the ball pit. She thought it was for her! She still does, those two are always in the ball pit together.

…yeh.

Still going!

Puggy found one of her stocking stuffers from Santa.

Someone else found his stocking too! Santa had specific toy ideas for Bean. No noise makers. All quiet toys that encouraged imagination and creativity and challenged motor skills and critical thinking. Too much for a one year old? We agree with Santa. We don’t want to limit Bean’s possibilities with distracting toys. Now, all of his toys from relatives are noise makers and that’s fine. Toys, in our opinion, are like anything else. Food, reading, movies; you want to have a good varied diet in all those areas. Say you are an avid reader. If you only read historic or biographic non-fiction you are missing out on all the great fiction like thrillers and comedies and romance. You want to challenge all sides but every now and then your brain needs to veg out….that’s where family comes in with the loud twirly colorful toys.

Someone else found his stocking too….his toys are just nonsense. Pretty much there to chase me around and try to start wars with 😉

This one was also a BIG hit. We do the baby reading program with Bean. Believe it or not it worked. That boy reads like crazy, and he loves letters and words.

After a wonderful morning with our tiny brood we headed over to Mimi and Poppi’s for some more Christmas fun with the whole gang. I love spending all day with my family. Wish it happened more often. Kids everywhere, the big kids (us) crashing on the couch after the inevitable and childish sugar overloads (sugar wins every year), and Mimi and Poppi always finding batteries and scissors. BTW my folks rock at getting each other meaningful gifts. Every year one of them is bawling, all of us big kids are in on and it and just waiting in anticipation…it’s awesome.

So I’m going to walk you through Christmas at my folks because you won’t believe it. This is the FIRST tree. There are so many of us now that the trees span a couple of rooms (and one day I predict several floors as well). There are my two folks, us four kids, our chosen honey-doos, and 5 grandbabies (at the time, since then we added a grandbaby and another one is coming in May!). All in all that is 15 people. Yes. 15 getting gifts and giving gifts. It’s so awesome. Everyone is in on secrets with one of more person and there is just so much anticipation in the giving.Like I said Mimi and Poppi are the champion gift givers. They have real generous hearts.

This is the second tree.

The big kid stockings. Even though now there are 8 big kids (us original four each found our honey) the couples each share one. You get married you become one! Mimi and Poppi make sure there are gifts for both hubs and wifey in there.

The grandbaby stockings. Mimi needs to make two more for the next Christmas! Mimi and Poppi stuff them so much that they are too heavy to hang. It’s awesome.

All the stockings together. Mimi and Poppi don’t do stockings for each other but…I think they should. They deserve it and they are so good at it. If anyone agrees with me leave a comment for them. If I show them the world agrees too then maybe they will take some time for each other and not just all the kids and big kids!

Another view of the first tree. It’s soo stuffed to the brim and overflowing.

Yeh, stuffed so high that there were presents in the bookcase.

Ray is crazy about Bean. If she’s around I usually don’t see him for hours.

Cheese was super happy about a gift from Ray and Matt.

Mimi loves her Puddin 🙂

Ray is getting married in the fall so we got her some stuff for her future walls!

We got Bud this helicopter thing that you stomp on it and the thing goes flying. I dunno, hubs picked it out. I’m not a boy. All I know is Bud loved it.

Puddin has been into putting things together lately. I think she might be a handygirl!

Bek was a bit confused with one of her gifts…

I got her some peepee teepees for my sweet nephew (who was nearly all done cooking in there!)

Just loving the lights!

He loves his Uncle Matt.

Ray is always grossed out by hubsy’s gag gifts every year. This was actually a regift from the white elephant Christmas party we went to lol.

Bean got many many cuddles on Christmas. It was another one of those perfect days. Christmas was so much better this year, just having a little one to re-live the magic of my own childhood with. Watching him experience it for the first time, he was just wide-eyed for the whole season.  I honestly feel like I would do anything (perhaps to the point of people questioning my sanity) to see his smile and hear his laugh. It’s the most incredible thing. Love my little man, and love is not a big enough word. There should be a new word invented for this kind of feeling!

~B

More Random December 2011!!!

December just has many random activities. I figure I can post a few different days in each post until I’m actually caught up!

I was happy when my brother dropped off a couple of his kiddos to go do some Christmas shopping. I don’t get to see Cheese much. She was born a short 6 months before Bean. When she was born I was so excited but at the same time overwhelmed knowing my turn was next! Then Bean was born and the rest of her first year whizzed by and I felt like I just didn’t get to know her as well as my other nieces and nephews. Any time I get to spend with her I really cherish, just watching her and seeing what she likes and what she’s learning. Not to mention she’s gorgeous!

I have yet to meet a kid that doesn’t like keys 🙂

She just kept playing with those keys and looking outside. I love being outside year round but I hate exposing the little ones to such cold. I think around 2 I feel better letting them play outside in winter. Their immune systems are a bit tougher.

Bridge and I think that Bean and Cheese might be quite the team growing up. Cheese has figured out how to manipulate us adults with her cuteness to get what she wants, and Bean has just figured out physically how to get it by climbing or building something to climb on. Right now they go back and forth between sharing and kissing to taking and pushing. Once they figure out that they are stronger together we all know we are in for some big trouble.

Bean is also pretty infatuated with Bud. He’s the cool big boy and Bean copies everything he does. Bud is so sweet to him too, sharing and letting Bean just take toys. Bean lately just follows Bud and sits right next to him and just jumps in with the playing. It’s so great to see their relationship developing.

Bud caught me 🙂

Someone else was pining to go outside….my heart went right along with his!

Making sure the tree was ok 🙂

Yes…the pug has a dress on 🙂 Tab got it for her for Christmas. Somehow it made her look even larger!

I don’t think a rounder dog exists! Puggy Cupcake!

One last one of that pretty girl 🙂

Betcha can’t find me mama!

Love those baby legs:)

Little trouble maker!

I think I’ll post Christmas Eve photos too and then the next post will be a big Christmas post!

My two handsome boys! Bean loves a good three piece suit 😉

BEFORE Santa came. These are our gifts to our families and friends.

For years I have been known as the gift giver who has the worst wrapping skills. (I’m terrible at it and have been known to wrap a gift in a piece of fabric held together with a chip clip….yeh). I really made an effort this year. I tried to go vintage thought it would be simpler. Turns out brown packaging paper….not so easy to fold or tape. Either way I think they turned out alright.

I have made all of the stockings for our family. A tradition passed down from my own mama. Left to right: hubs, mine, puggy, and Bean! I (as does my momma) think that most store bought stockings are tacky (red santa fabric….ew. rudolph? again ew. ) Not for us. I like the idea of spending time making something beautiful for people you love. Makes the stockings even more special on such a special day.

For each stocking I try to pull in details that remind me of that person (or furball!) Other requirements are there has to be a bell on the stocking and either a bow or tassel (or both) and something else special.

I found these anchor buttons on etsy. They reminded me of Bean’s Cracker Jack party.

I also found a star bell which seemed fitting considering he’s the star of our show now 🙂

I made a bow tie…it reminded me of his Halloween costume 🙂

Another tradition passed down from my side is Christmas Eve jammies. Everyone gets to open one present on Christmas Eve and it’s always new jammies! Bean got pirate jams!! Hubs got superman jams!

Yeh, he’s the cutest pirate ever!!! I think this ranks as top three most anticipated Christmases ever. I am normally sick to my stomach with excitement but I actually had to take some homeopathic tummy stuff this year before bed! It was my first Christmas as a mama and I was up until 2am making sure everything was perfect. Bean was up for the day at 6 am! I was pooped but so worth it. Can’t wait to show you all the Christmas photos!

~B

 

December 11, 2011

Ahhh Children’s Wonderland. A family favorite tradition. Those that married into this family may not agree (it has gone kinda down hill since we were kids) but either way the little ones LOVE it! So much to look at and lights everywhere! A perfect mixture for tiny Bean!

Bean’s obsession with Mimi and Poppi began around this time. They are his buddies!

Hubsy LOVES frosted sugar cookies…..so this mama gave him a dollar…he was a happy camper.

Puddin got to meet Santa! Bud was going to go but got too shy.

Bean’s walking had gotten out of control so fast! He had been walking two months at this point already!! He’s much harder to keep track of these days 🙂

He was just so happy with all the lights and the moving parts 🙂

He loved the train, he kept pointing at everything! So excited.

Puddin and Bud found the craft station 🙂

Puddin is such a little mama. She’s the oldest of all the cousins and is baby crazy! She wants a big family someday 🙂

Off and running again!

Crazy Bud!

Cheese loves Mimi and is usually unwilling to share 🙂

I still think Children’s Wonderland has some Christmas magic 🙂 Even more now that I get to watch Bean enjoy it so much. Seeing everything through his eyes makes it fresh and new. Best visit ever!

~B

Halloween Weekend 2011

Our dear friends flew in from Houston for this particular weekend, and we were beyond excited to meet their beautiful baby girl! She’s so freakin cute I can hardly take it….seriously beautiful. Bean is already friends with her cousin Rankin and he was happy to meet Isabella! Our other friend flew in from Seattle with his fiance! It was a great reunion! Made me homesick for my college days, time goes so quickly all the time. Sometimes I want to squeeze it tight and just hold on to a moment a little longer.

Um yeh…Rankin is growing cuter and cuter by the day. I mean look at him!

Bean fitting right in! He likes to be nosy and get in on the action

There she is!! I finally got to see this beautiful face in real life!

All the babies were having tummy time except Bean…he was walking and crawling around and getting into mischeif!

Then all the babies had bathtime! I really loved sharing that time of day with my friends and their babies. I just love that community feeling, knowing someone else is going through the same things that you are.

He really loves his uncle Greg! Seriously, the day ended too quickly!

Bean was a milkman for halloween. Yeh. He’s that awesome.

Yes….the hubs actually wrote this….he’s 80 at heart.

The milk bottles were where we put his candy.

Puddin was princess Leia…they just watched Star Wars for the first time this year and they are loving it.

Cheese was an ewok!

Bud was yoda and his friend Jerek was Vadar. They kept stopping every few feet to fight a serious battle.

That’s right…we dressed up puggy as his dairy cow 🙂

I think we have the cutest dog on the entire planet!

the whole group!

I think Bud was happy to have lots of chocolate in his bag!

Haha, you can tell he’s my boy! Bean was just so loving Halloween. He loved how he could sign “please” and get something colorful to chew on. He loved all the lights and seeing all the costumes and decorations. He kept dancing on my hip! I used to not care about Halloween too much but man! After walking around my my beautiful boy dressed up all cute and seeing his excitement…Halloween had that magic it did when I was little. I am so thankful that Bean brought that back! He helped me remember what it feels like to make believe! Seriously Halloween sky rocketed to holiday number three for me!

Cheese and Bean playing after they got into their jammies! They kept hugging, kissing, and poking each other! They have too much fun!

My two favorites. Look at them! Incredible….nights like these are gold. Completely irreplaceable.

~B

 

October 22, 11 Pumpkin Path

Sorry it’s been a bit since I’ve posted! It’s been insane around here! So this is the first halloween season post. Let me just say…Bean being here skyrocketed Halloween to one of my top three favorite holidays. It was so awesome seeing him dressed up and watching his eyes light up at all the houses with lights and signing ‘please’ and getting candy in return. No fear….Daddy and Momma ate his candy so baby wouldn’t get sugar or cavities or a belly ache.  Pumpkin Path is basically trick or treating at the zoo from different vendors. We got lots of candy, some demonstrations, and some coupons! We got to go with Boo which was awesome since she lives an hour away and with school and Bean’s bedtime we really wouldn’t have gotten to see her this year. Plus the weather was fab!!!

Boo went as smurfette! My sister made her costume! Think she did a rockin’ job!

Bean was a Milkman…yes. I made his costume (our momma always made ours…think the tradition is continuing!)

Oh my….who wouldn’t swoon at that milkman?

He kept trying to drink out of his milk bottles…and then we put some candy in them and he REALLY wanted to drink it then!

My sister with Boo (yes she is very aware of my camera!) My sister is preggo with my nephew!! Dying to meet that dude!

Boo as a Boo!

Now he’s the cool milkman 😉

Boo checkin out her goodies!

One more of my cute Boo.

I think something was stirred inside of me that I hadn’t felt in a long time. Having a kiddo experience Halloween for the first time…seeing his excitement…reminded me of just how much I LOVED imaginative play and dressing up and all that family time as a kid. I hope I can create warm memories for my babies as my folks did for us. It’s amazing how this tiny guy arrived and suddenly everything is better and really just magical. I am so enjoying every moment with him, I can’t believe God chose me to be his Momma. I feel so incredibly blessed and unworthy. He is this beautiful, healthy, smart, clever, funny child that I get to call my own….sometimes I can’t believe it’s true! I’ve waited my whole life to be a Momma and it’s even more than a dream come true….especially because he’s my Bean.

~B

October 20, 11

This particular night Ryan and I got to babysit Puddin, Bud, and Cheese. It was too much fun. It was loud and chaotic and full of giggles! I truly love being an aunt and it’s only magnified by being a Momma. I have so much love for all those kiddos and it’s great seeing how much they love my Bean. I really just love having a bunch of kids around to cuddle and laugh with….there is nothing better in the whole world than playing with kids (at least in my opinion). You never know what they will say or what revelations they are going to make. Makes my world brighter..refreshed.

We started off our night by baking brownies with the big kids. Puddin has helped me bake before but this was the first time Bud helped me. He did such a great job! ( Puddin was such great helper to Bud).

Then it was time for baths…Bean and Cheese had a race up the stairs 🙂

Will Cheese win??

Nope Bean wins!

Cheese really is 5 months older…not that you’d ever be able to tell! Bean is far chunkier and about just as tall!

“How do we get in here Cheese?”

“I think we dive in head first, Bean”

Bud was really…helping:)

Bud thought he could help more if he was in the tub 🙂

Bud is the best mixture of insane crazy punching jumping super hero, and cuddly sweet angel boy.  Bean reminds me of him sometimes….I think they are going to be good friends 🙂

Puddin wanted in on the bath action…but no boys allowed..even Bean.

Mimi couldn’t help but walk on over…80% of her grandbabies were up in the hizzy 🙂 She just can not resist baby/kid cuteness…and we were happy for the help…we are used to two on one…..not two on four! We had a glimpse of what our future could hold…..let’s say excited and perhaps a bit nervous 😉 All I know is there will be lots of loud giggles and many many cuddles and we wouldn’t miss it for anything.

There are just days where I can’t believe God gave Bean to us. I know that if I whispered thank you every second of every day for the rest of my life it just wouldn’t be enough. I think I need to invent a bigger phrase than thank you….I’m gonna work on that.

The 9th Month

These month began all the fall activities. Leaf piles, pumpkin carving, bundling up against cool breezes. Granted this particular fall has actually been very warm. To my five subscribers: I think this will be my last catch up post and from here on out we will be updated with Bean’s cuteness and activities. I appreciate you all for letting me catch up and start our story from the beginning. We took Bean to his first Harrison Rally Days which is kicked off with a parade. It’s tradition in my fam to go every year. It falls on my birthday every year so it’s like a giant party for me 😉 JK but it is a fun birthday weekend activity. Bean LOVED the parade….but mostly the police cars blocking the streets. Their lights were on which he is his favorite thing right now…he kept signing please. We began sign language at six months and please and dog are the first he learned. Lately he is signing more. Love that he can communicate with me.

Number one look at his gorgeous chubby cheeks. Number two he has the cutest hat in the world….cheeks plus hat = cutest baby ever.

Our pug Rufus wanted to lick everyone’s feet…..she’s a lover.

One of our daily walks…seriously the hat!

He really watches us…he knows we pull into our driveway and it’s time to unbuckle. He is very mechanical and coordinated…he gets that from the hubs.

He has been trying to learn how to use a cup. If I hold it he can drink out of it but if he has it….well…..

We also have learned he is a climber and escaper…he can literally get out of everything in the house (except for the crib) and he can get on top of everything…yes literally.

Bean was all dressed up to meet his cousin. My older sister Bekka is expecting her second kiddo and my niece Boo has wanted a baby brother so badly and wanted him to be named Kevin. Bean and I got to go to the ultrasound to find out the gender, and she is having a boy!!!! I was so shocked. Most of Boo’s cousins are girls on her Dad’s side. Bean is excited to have a boy so close to his age to play with! They will be 13 months apart. Plus they have big cousin Bud to show them how to sword fight and throw rocks and punch guys. It’s going to rock.

Can’t imagine why Boo wants a brother 🙂 These two get along so well…..Bean really loves her.

We took Bean apple picking for the first time…he loved it so much! This is the first pumpkin he ever saw.

There were tons of animals at this place which he loves. Aunt Ray and Mimi were loving watching his reactions 🙂

Uncle Matt is the newest addition (for now) to our family. Technically it’s not official until next fall but he’s already one of us. The babes love him and that’s the secret password into this family. Bean adores his uncle Matt.

Yeh they are scheming.

He is all boy….loves any kind of vehicle already. I remember at three months his favorite toys were cars. That popped up fast!

He began pulling himself up and walking along furniture this month….yeh….we are in for it.

His first pony ride…he really seemed to like it. Not sure if it was the animal or the saddle…either way he kept laughing and trying to jump.

Our fearless daredevil. Wish I was as brae as him. I can’t believe all the things he does. I was never a shy kid, did nearly every sport on the planet and didn’t care if my friends were doing it or not…but never did I take risks where danger was involved…no heights, no climbing, no jumping. I know Bean will have many adventures in life that I will always be too scared to try….who knows. Maybe he will talk me into some. I kind of hope he does.

Trying to share an apple with Daddy……

…it was a tad sour ;p

Could my Momma be cuter? There’s a guy in town who calls her little girl…and I think it’s fitting. My Momma is still just a big kid…even if she would never admit it. She likes playing in dirt, and rough housing with all the babies, playing outside and accessorizing.  I think she is secretly 12 years old.

I think Boo and Bean had a great time pickin’ apples!

Starting him young….at least this season has been mostly good. Optimistic for sure.

Outnumbered by y chromosomes and loving it 🙂

I love watching these two together…communicating, playing, learning about each other and the adult human world they live in. See below.

I’ll let the photos tell this story 😉

 

Hi mom:)…ok back to exploring

Now puggy knows where the toothpaste is 🙂

We also went to Indy again this time to meet another new friend Harper! They took us to an incredible pumpkin patch and Bean was just in heaven:)

Yes…this is my boy and me in a nutshell 🙂

If he’s not smiling I know something is wrong….that boy is always happy.

He turned 9 months old the day before the pumpkin patch and he cut his first two teeth for the occasion. His first teeth were the bottom fronts. I will admit I proud and also sad that his gummy smile was no more. With each passing day he will look older and older.

His cheesy smile 🙂

Riding his first hay ride out to the pumpkin patch with his sweet friend Nolen!

“Look what I found Momma!”

I love those squishy beautiful hands…I could kiss them all day!

He is an angel dropped from heaven ::sigh:: and ::swoon::

I’ve always considered myself a kid still. It’s been incredible watching Bean experience his own childhood and being able to play with him. I’m happy to have a little playmate to have fun with and re-experience the world myself with fresh eyes. I love seeing how excited he is over the smallest things, and it makes me excited again, to remember how I felt when I first discovered things.

 

His 8th Month

We had as much fun as we could this month as summer wrapped up and my crazy work schedule began. Bean really loved this summer, and I enjoyed watching him learn and grow and see his interests blossom. (So far everything is his interest!) Mimi was watching Bean’s cousins Puddin, Bud, and Cheese for a night so we met them at the park. I love watching Bean with his favorite people. The only one missing was Boo.

Bean and Cheese are only 5 months apart and both teething….sometimes they like to trade hands.

One of Bean’s favorite summer activities….the higher the better!

You do this too?

A great shot of my little lovies. Again, only wish Boo was in this photo…it would be the perfect summer photo. Barefoot, sweaty, playground goodness.

We went a few nights right before bedtime for some swing time!

I know, I went a little photo happy.

I could watch him smile and laugh forever.

The hubs got to come enjoy the municiple pool with Bean and me on the pool’s last open day this season. He got to see how crazy Bean is in the pool! I love summer activities…swimming is a summer must. It’s not summer without the pool!

Mimi and Poppi even dropped by (in the middle of their date) just to watch him for a few minutes. They love him so much, they drop anything just to look at him:) Bean is one lucky little boy to have so many people love him.

He kept stomping on the water and crawling through it (he was an expert crawler by the end of summer) and smacking it.

Loved spending summers here as a kid and now I get to take my own baby:) I really want to try to be as good a Momma as my own Momma was.

I just loved summer with this tiny gent’.

Yes…..our pug rides bottom in the stroller….she doesn’t care for walking.

We also took a couple of last zoo trips while it was still flip flop weather, one with Natalie and one with the hubs.

Poppi loves a lap full of his babies!

Bean loves the toy we got him for his 6 month party! He looks like such a big boy 🙂

So Bean is five months younger than Cheese but he was already bigger than her at this point. They both fit into their sailor outfits..so yeh…mini session lol. They are so cute together…you’d think they are twins with how much I photograph them together 🙂

I also grabbed a couple shots of him in his birthday party shirt…soo cute! If anyone has questions about where I got his shirt just leave me a comment!

I also wanted to grab a couple of his crackerjack toy from Mimi and Poppi in it’s original packaging before it got destroyed lol. Beanie loves this doll…chews it and plays with it all day.

Bud turned four in September (where does the time go…I remember when he was a newbie and he all this soft hair). He had a green lantern party…Bean joined in:)

It’s incredible how much I love nakey buns….I mean he is just so squishy I can hardly stand it.

I really think that only word to describe our first summer with him is magical. It really felt that way. I loved seeing him experience things for the first time, and see his excitement. I loved watching him learn and conquer things. He made my favorite season even more incredible. I knew he would love summer but I didn’t expect him to love it so much. He just loves life. I am excited (but patient) to see what the rest of the year brings. He has been loving fall so far, you will all die at his extreme cuteness. I just wonder how this winter will go! Oh Bean, you mean so much to us. Life was not complete before you.

~B

Month 7

Wow, this month turned mobile fast! All that crawling….he got quick and fast! One day I was cleaning a mess he had gotten into and I couldn’t find him….found him halfway up the stairs…yowza! Needless to say he has been keeping me on my toes ever since! He also began pulling himself up on furniture and walking along that as well as holding hands and walking around. He was also an expert climber by this point! Can climb anything and get whatever he likes! He was even pushing certain toys around the house to climb on those to then climb on higher objects to reach things he should not have. Yes..my baby already had problem solving abilities. How insane!

Another one of my favorite photos. This was taken at my niece Puddin’s 7th birthday. I love all these kids with all my heart and I love watching them interact with each other and see their imaginations.

Bean with Poppi….both in their Hawaiian gear! How cute! These two boys hold a very special place in my heart 🙂

We took our first trip down to NC to visit the hubs fam. They have a pup too, Bean was happy to have another doggie around!

He still loves his pup best….they are best buddies!

Here we all are after a wine tasting…and yes, my face does get that happy after three sips of wine 😉

Bean with Grandpa!

Bean with Aunt Kacie, she likes helping out with him, plus she makes him laugh.

Bean with Tristan. Tristan can make him laugh too!

Haha…good Uncle Chris…playing Bean’s favorite game…even though his biceps had to be burning! They played this allll week!

Took another bath time ‘session’….he’s just so crazy in the tub it’s hard to not take photos!

I discovered he has enough hair to mohawk during this bath….needless to say I was beyond thrilled!

HAHA love that face! So silly

This face comes from my side of the family, it’s common among me, my sibs, my cousins and my nieces and nephews lol…don’t know what to call this expression but I still love it. Plus I love how it’s shared!

So glad the hubs took these couple of photos. Yeh..the focus is off, but still. There just aren’t a ton of photos of Bean and me since I’m always behind the lens. Plus it’s such an ordinary photo…just doing what we do most every night. Cuddle after bath time 🙂

He loves lots o smooches!

The real reason we had the camera this night, Bean got air force fatigues in the mail from our good buddy Greg….LOVE these jams!

The in-laws came to visit for a day about a week after we went down!

That same day my Aunt Sue and Uncle Tom and my cousins Russ, Hayley and Matt came to town! I hadn’t seen them in forever and was so happy that Bean got to meet them!

This was a day or two before Bean began crawling. At first he would get his booty in the air and then fling himself forward. That was how he crawled for a couple of weeks! So funny!

Of course he also loves his toes (still does..or anyone’s toes really!)

Told you they are best buds.

Vin and Bridge took the kiddos to KOA for a couple days and they invited us up for a swim and a cookout… I seriously love watching the cousins play together 🙂

He just loves the water!

Bridget with Cheese and Bean! Those were a couple of soggy sandy babies!

While everyone else was getting dressed for dinner the babies hung out in the pack n play…love nakey babies!

hiya!

Me with my favorite little guy!

The boys wrestling around!

They are all so cuddly 🙂 I just love moments like this!

Hubs finally made it up after work, it was like a mini vacation!

Puddin’ can really make Bean laugh, she kept giving him rasberries 🙂

Happy Day:)

What a fun summer, probably the best one ever. It was so great taking Bean places and watching him discover things for the first time. I loved seeing his interests and personality bloom. Summer flew by though…I wish I could have held it in a jar and saved it so we could revisit now. I get teary thinking about all the memories of his first summer. I couldn’t have asked for more.

~B

PS we had big family photos done, thought I’d share my favorites. A big thank you to Tabitha from Wellspring Photography for doing those for us!

haha…mass chaos

Bean with his cousin Bud!

HAHAHA

I love how their expressions are nearly identical but Bean is sad and Boo is happy!

Love this photo…two cool baldies

All my favorites 🙂

I love this photo of my boy and me…(plus his arms look extra muscley!!)

🙂

Week One

That first week of being a Mama blew my mind. I couldn’t believe how much I loved this tiny stranger. I knew nothing about him…didn’t know what made him happy or sad; when he would be hungry or tired; how to get him to sleep or in all honesty I knew nothing. Somehow that didn’t really matter. I truly realized that labor and delivery are the easy part and it’s the healing that is much harder. That somehow didn’t matter either. I could hurt as much as possible but as long as I could cuddle that little man I just didn’t care and I knew it was worth it.
It’s truly incredible when I think about how I feel about him. I cried so much that first month just out of literally pure joy. Anytime I’d think about the first time I saw his face or held him, the first time I nursed him…or he would sigh…or fall asleep on me…yeh the tears would flow. The boy kept checking on me making sure it wasn’t postpartum (which I thought was so cute) and I just kept telling him no..my face is so happy it just keeps leaking!
I also can’t believe how I fell even more deeply in love with my boy! Talk about true love holy cow. I mean sure we really did love each other before but there is something about going through childbirth together as a team that just does unbelievable things for a couple. He told me (afterword) that he was proud of me..and impressed by me…ME! The one who can’t really cook, and is messy, and forgetful. I think it was the nicest thing anyone ever said to me. I know I could not have gotten through childbirth without that boy. Anytime the butterflies became overwhelming he would stand with me and pray so hard for me and all my fears would melt away and this strength that wasn’t my own would just appear out of nowhere.

I also learned a smidge more about how God feels about me. If I love my own son this much, how much more does He love me…enough to send his own son to die for me. Something that is so gut wrenching that I can’t bear the thought….how could He do that for little old me?

That first week was magical and a time I will always cherish. I felt so loved by family and friends. So much encouragement and help. My parents were unbelievable with helping that first week, cleaning, teaching us things…my older siblings (sisters mainly) let me call them anytime day or night “What do I do now?? Is this normal?” They and my mom would go out shopping for me and pick things up. It was amazing see how much my whole family immediately loved my son and all argue (I think my youngest sister usually wins) over who gets to hold him. It’s incredible.

His first week appointment….he gained an entire pound and one inch in length! Yowza!

He was slightly jaundice but nothing a little breastmilk and sunlight couldn’t fix.

I got this horse as a baby shower gift and I freaking love it! What baby boy doesn’t want to be a nakey cowboy right? 😉

I think Bean was four days old when I did his newborn session…in some ways he looks so similar and in others completely different! One thing is for sure…I have a GORGEOUS son! I know I am bias but seriously…look at that face! 🙂

Family photos courtesy of Tabitha.

I think my hope for all new families out there is that they experience this deep love too.  Sometimes you have to do something with every ounce of your being…something that seems too hard or impossible to gain something beyond what words can describe.
Thanks to those of you who are reading…if there are any. I guess tonight was another how it all began post…I think for awhile I may be doing those until I’m current with life now…I still don’t know where this blog is headed. To be honest I am a scatterbrain and I have such random thoughts that hop around. Truly anything could end up on here…

~B